Phase Shift: V2G Is A Furphy

Some ideas are just too clever to die. Like Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) — the notion that your electric car can act as a home battery. Park it at home, plug it in, and when the sun goes down or prices spike, your car sells energy back to the grid. It’s green, it’s clever, and it feels like you’re gaming the system.

Home batteries are expensive. EVs are becoming standard. So the idea of getting a ‘free’ home battery with your car is irresistible – if you don’t look too closely. Especially if you imagine selling electricity at $10 per kWh while your neighbour’s paying 40c per kWh to charge their Tesla.

It feels like financial judo.

But in reality, it’s all hassle, cost, and fiddliness — in exchange for pocket change and an illusion of control.

V2G Is A Complicated Detour

First: batteries are getting cheap. Battery cells are already under $100 per kWh. Home battery systems are still stubbornly expensive, yes. But history tells us that won’t last. Just like solar panels, prices will fall and home batteries will be everywhere.

Second: bidirectional EV chargers will always be more expensive than normal ones. More hardware, more complexity, more paperwork. You’ll deal with tougher installs, picky DNSPs, and call centres who barely understand how to spell ‘V2G’, let alone support it.

Third: it’s a ball-ache. A home battery is most useful when it’s always at home. Putting it in the car breaks that. You need the car? Bad luck — now your house can’t run off cheap energy. Car’s not plugged in? Back to buying from the grid. Got two cars? Welcome to charge juggling. Want your 17-year-old to remember to plug in every time they park? Good luck.

And all this for what? Maybe a few bucks on a good day?

People don’t want fiddly. They want simple. That’s why we pay more for products that just work. Like paying $20 a month for iCloud because plugging in your phone to sync it feels like admin.

As battery prices fall, the appeal of V2G will fade. Remember ten years ago when everyone was going to go off-grid in the suburbs to dodge a $1 daily connection fee? I got pilloried for saying no one actually wanted that hassle.

Even Elon Musk — whose recent track record makes Clive Palmer look focused – managed to get this one half-right. He said:

“If you unplug your car, your house goes dark.”

Not true. Your house just pulls expensive grid electricity instead – which is exactly what you were trying to avoid. But the real point? V2G is a pain.

Better Ways To Use Your EV Battery

That’s not to say EVs can’t help. Quite the opposite. When they’re parked and plugged in, they’re great at soaking up excess solar and wind. Smart charging during the middle of the day – that’s the easy win. No bi-directional hardware required.

And yes, V2L (Vehicle-to-Load) is genuinely useful. Great as an emergency power source during a blackout, making toast at a campsite, or running power tools on a remote worksite – as long as your car’s got the grunt (looking at you, BYD Shark).

But powering your house every night from your car? That’s when the wheels fall off.

Stop Spinning Your Wheels

One of the biggest problems with V2G isn’t just the complexity — it’s the distraction. It makes people wait. Wait to buy an EV. Wait to size up their solar. Wait for new home battery tech. All for a perfect solution that may never arrive.

But big bills are here now. The energy transition is already underway.

The tech that works is already on the shelf. V2G isn’t.

So don’t wait. Expand your solar. Add the battery. Get the EV.

Use what works — now.